Love is Not Enough
by Turin resurrected
Summary: To stop the destruction of both worlds, the rulers decree that the portal must be closed. Hiei wonders if Kurama is enough reason to stay in Ningenkai. For, in the end, there will be no turning back. romance angst shonenai KxH
1. Chapter 1

**Credits:**

The characters in this fanfic are from Yu Yu Hakusho.

**Hands to Heaven**

**By Turin**

Chapter 1: Ningenkai

They had had two years, and during that time, they loved each other…yea, even promised forever '_itsu mo'_ together.

It was one of those nights when the clouds were so thick, no stars, nor moon could be seen. A shadow flitted through this darkness, leaping from tree to tree, from house to house at phenomenal speeds. The figure did not waver – choosing the most economical path to the peach-colored apartment at the end of the block.

Meanwhile, at the house, a young man, nibbled nervously at the end of the pencil. It was a habit he picked up in the ningen realm… and though he seldom did it when anyone was around (not even _him_)… the pounding in his heart was too much to bear.

He turned as the curtain danced behind him… the youkai always used to enter soundlessly through there… but now… it is just the wind.

_Should I close it now?_ The rose-haired young man thought. It was past midnight… and _he_ did have to work tomorrow_. Maybe he was at the other realm with his War-Lord?_

After a few moments of deliberation, he reached out and locked the window. He missed him, but probably, he was too busy to go here tonight… ah well, there would be other nights. That bed would look more inviting with his body under the covers, but tonight, the warm sheets would have to do. He crawled in between his comforters, and though he tried to stay awake a few minutes more, his ningen body called out for rest. The moment his back touched the bed, he was gone.

And then, the shadow arrived, his breathing was unlabored, though he crossed a world just to be here. If it were brighter, one would see the rarest of sights – a dimpled smile on his face. It has been a week since they've been together, and he missed him like no other. In contest between his katana Masamune, and him, he would choose him. In contest between the pearl memory he wore around his neck, he would choose him. In contest with his life, he would choose him.

He reached out to open the window…

And found it unyielding.

He wondered if it was stuck, but this window has never been stuck before. Then he saw it. The little buttons at the base of the wood were pressed down.

_He locked up?_ He thought unbelievingly.

Though he tried so hard to suppress it, he felt the stirrings of anger in his heart. _How dare he? After I went to all the trouble of seeing him? How dare he? _But then, the voice of reason, _he did not expect you're coming. You have been gone a week. It was not his fault._

He was hot tempered, but he had always listened to the voice of reason. He looked at the gnarled branch of the sakura tree. Two years ago, this used to be his 'perch', but after _his_ bed became available… well….

Grudgingly, he spread his coat on the branch and settled his body to its familiar contours. Though he didn't feel it, he knew he had to rest. Respites were few and far between his chosen mode of life, and a warrior better take a rest whenever it was possible.

* * *

The morning was still young when sleep left him fully awake. He walked to the window and found three little finger prints, half-erased by dawn's dew. 

_He was here? _He whispered incredulously as he fumbled to open the windows. But there was no one outside no matter how hard he looked.

So Kurama bathed and ate and greeted the day with a smile on his face, though in his heart, he was troubled. _He was here_. A chance lost just because he was too damned stupid not to wait! How could Hiei expect _him_ to shuffle two lives and not be exhausted once in a while? He should have waited!

* * *

"Ano… Kurama-kun?" Aya, his friend outside of the Reikai Tantei tugged at his sleeves. 

"Oh… Gomen nasai, Aya-kun… I was thinking of something else. I must have blanked out. Do'ishte?"

A slight frown creased her brows.

"You've been phasing out a lot lately. Is something in your mind?"

She has been his friend far longer than anybody. In fact, even longer than any human being aside from his Mother. He was poor at making relationships when he was young, having ingrained too much of the youko in his psyche. But Aya has seen through his wall and endeared herself to him, staying loyal and true even though he cast her aside so many times – too many times.

She didn't deserve a friend like him.

"No, I'm just worried about biochem. I couldn't understand the reactions. That's all, don't worry," he lied as he gazed into her eyes and smiled.

"Liar. You know that's not true!" She chided gently as she pinched him on the arm. Kurama giggled.

"Well, it was a nice effort."

"You know you can tell me anything Kurama kun."

"I know."

"And you can trust me, too."

"I Know."

"Though I know you know I know the secret you can't tell me ever."

Kurama stopped in his tracks and stared at her.

"But you know that nothing can stop us from being friends, right?"

"R-Right."

Aya nodded and like a tomboy, placed her hands in her jean pockets and walked ahead, leaving Kurama smiling wistfully.

_They were classmates since they started school. She knew him long before he became the school idol. She couldn't honestly say that she liked him immediately, but there was something in his withdrawn eyes that aroused her curiosity. It was in first grade when he finally nodded when he saw her; fourth grade when he let her use his name. In sixth grade, she noticed a change in him. He smiled once in a while and well, he bloomed. There was no better way to describe it. His awkwardness around other people disappeared, and he began noticing his classmates. He was a great help in History, and Math and the Sciences. Like all of them, he struggled in English, but as usual, he mastered the new language and was soon speaking the alien tongue with better accent than their teacher. His handsome almost feminine face captured many hearts, and his humbleness and gentleness captured the rest. _

_Including her._

_Shuuichi treated her differently, maybe to make up for his aloofness in the past. It made the others envy her, but she didn't mind. Secretly, she hoped that Shuuichi liked her the same way she liked him. But her hopes were dashed when she saw them. At first she thought he was a kid, but when she heard his voice, she knew otherwise. They held hands under the moon and kissed._

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod. Shuuichi-kun's kissing someone, and that someone is a boy! Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!_

_She was in a daze that whole day. Shuuichi mentioned this, but she refused to talk. He badgered her good-naturedly until she relented._

"_I saw you in the park…" she whispered, afraid that anyone might hear her._

"_I always pass the park Aya-kun… It's a short cut to my place, remember?"_

"_Don't play dumb Shuuichi. You know what I mean…"_

"_No, I'm afraid not."_

_Then she saw one aspect of Shuuichi that their other classmates didn't perceive. He was a good liar. And unless one knew the truth, he could use his charm to convince the other that he was right and they were wrong. But she could see no other explanation except… except…_

"_Shuuichi… can I… walk with you when class is over?"_

"_Of course, hon," he called her hon. Another one of his tricks. "I couldn't say no to my oldest friend."_

_That afternoon, they walked together like boyfriend and girl friend. Oh what she would give for that to be the truth! _

"_So fess up, Aya, what's so important that we have to have all this privacy?"_

"_I know."_

"_What? I told you I don't understand."_

_He had such an innocent expression, that he unarmed her for a moment. But she steeled her nerves and gritted her teeth._

"_I know you'll never like me. And you only treat me better than most because you know I love you more truly than the others. I love you. There I said it. But I won't have a chance, because you already have someone, do you?"_

"_Aya..?"_

"_Don't play games Shuuichi. I'm you're friend. You're lucky it was me who saw you that night and not some other girl who might not understand."_

"_You saw h…"_

_He was about to say 'him', and she had to stop Shuuichi. She couldn't bear to think of him as such._

"_I know you're not serious about… that person. You're only experimenting, right? Lots of boys your age pass the stage, so you have nothing to be ashamed of."_

_For the first time in her life, she saw Shuuichi at a loss. Then he looked down, apparently ashamed._

"_Stop this nonsense before it ruins you."_

_When he looked up at her, his eyes chilled her to the soul. Another facet of him for her alone. And this, she will accept as she had accepted his shortcoming. After all, what could be more sinful than that?_

"_You won't tell anyone? I can't stop seeing him, you understand."_

_The word 'him' used in that context and coming from Shuuichi's lips sent goose bumps down her body. She would've squirmed if he wasn't hanging on her words._

"_I won't. I promise. If it comes out, it won't be from me."_

_Shuuichi looked older than his 15 years as he smiled and held her hands._

"_Thank you."

* * *

_

That night. Kurama made it a point to leave the windows open.

Outside, the crescent moon peeped through the curtains, accompanying the wind. The sky cast too much light and he pondered whether Hiei would come.

At midnight, he did.

In a flurry of jet black, he landed as noiselessly as a cat, and with the same lithe movements landed on his toes in front of his bed. Even after seeing this entrance so many times, Kurama couldn't help but be envious. Even he, a kitsune can't muster that kind of grace.

"Koibito."

"Koi…"

Just the sound of his voice made his heart flutter. It has been too long…

His eyes glowed in the dark as he motioned for Hiei to slip under the sheets with him. The youkai smiled and removed his shawl. Kurama's bed shifted under the added weight.

"You're wearing nothing kitsune…" Hiei murmured, feigning surprise.

"And you're wearing _too_ much…"

They laughed softly, and while his human mother slept, two beings from the different worlds came together as one…

* * *

Hiei looked at his lover sleeping peacefully snuggled beside him. He could count in his fingers the number of times they've been together in the whole year. Things were different when they were active in the Reikai Tantei, but now… the terms of their contract has been fulfilled. They are now free, the records of their past sins erased from the After World. 

"_Here…" he threw the pearl into the air. It traced an arch before Kurama caught it._

"_Oh! Is this for me?"_

"_Fool! It's for her! Tell her his brother's dead, and she should stop searching for a lost cause!"_

_A cloud passed through Kurama's face, but only for a while._

"_Okay. Are you coming back?"_

"_I don't know. That's for Mokuro to decide."_

"_The bitch?"_

"_My boss," he corrected._

"_Yukina will miss you."_

"_I don't care."_

"_And Keiko, Itsuko, Yusuke, Genkai, Puu, even Kuwabara though he won't admit it." _

_I will miss you._

"_Well… for their sake, whatever, whenever."_

_I will visit. Once in a while._

"_Next year, when the portal opens, you'll visit?"_

_He didn't answer. He left with neither nary a promise nor another kiss. The bridge between them cracked._

_The year passed swiftly as he served Mokuro. He knew she loved him dearly, or as dearly as pure youkais could feel love. When he remembered their rendezvous, it was past noon._

_He arrived in Genkai's temple at midnight. He looked for him everywhere, but Kurama was gone. Then he heard the echoes of the surf, and he thought what the hell? Ningen-kai's ocean is beautiful. As long as he was here…_

_And on the beach he saw him. Looking wistfully at the moon. Half-kitsune, half-human, both aspects at the surface._

_One eye-blink he was the thousand-year old thief, the next, the teen-age Minamino Shuuichi._

"_Kurama."_

_Kurama/ Shuuichi turned and smiled._

"_You came."_

"_You're stupid enough to wait forever."_

"_Well, not as stupid as you are for coming to someone he knows to be stupid."_

_He was about to come up with a good retort when Kurama silenced him with a kiss._

_Eight more times they met and Kurama welcomed and sent him off with kisses and embraces to make his heart swoon, and for a while, wish that he could stay here… in ningen kai._

_He tried, he really tried. Some times, he stayed days, even weeks… trying to acclimatize himself to this world and garner enough courage to say good bye to the life he knew and live anew in this. But one moment overshadowed his efforts. _

_The irony of their first Christmas._

_The stupid (endearing) pet (affectionately called ' kitsune' )dressed him up as a kid, complete with cute ear muffs and furry coat. Afterwards, Kurama paraded his new coat and fished for his complements._

"_Do you like this, koi?"_

"_Mnph."_

"_Is that a yes or a no?"_

"_What did it sound like to you?"_

_Another kiss. Kurama had to meet the guys with his coat all rumpled, but at least his cheeks were well rouged. The guys hadn't changed. Keiko still bossed Yusuke, and Yusuke still bore it all with immaculate patience. Kuwabara was still a pain in the ass, and Yukina… she was somewhat fuller._

"_A baby!" he would have screamed if only Kurama didn't muffle his lips. "Gods! With that dork!"_

_The night passed with no incident, well… except maybe the accidental fire on Kuwabara's carrot-for-a-head. But all in all it was peaceful._

"_Hey guys, Hiei has to catch the portal back, so we have to say good bye now," Kurama brushed his pants as he stood up._

"_Ow, you two love birds just say it out loud, we won't mind!" Kuwabara guffawed in his drunkenness. He almost spat out the beer as Yukina punched him in the guts. _

"_Shh… it's private."_

_He was about to punch Kuwabara too and dare him what's so laughable about their relationship when Kurama cut in. His koibito, always the peacemaker, he thought affectionately..._

_But Kurama said something different from what he expected. _

"_C'mon you guys. We're just friends."_

_They left with Kurama half-dragging him out. _

_Just friends…_

_**Just** friends._

_Just **friends**?_

"_Hey… you've been quiet all the time. What's on your mind?"_

_Just. Friends._

"_What's wrong?"_

_**Just friends.**_

"_You said we're just friends. Are we?"_

_Kurama's eyes grew wide, almost as wide as his._

"_Why didn't you tell them about us?"_

_He said nothing._

"_And your mother. You always introduce me as the mute little kid." Because if I talk, she'll know I'm not that young at all. Hell I'm older than her. "Why?"_

_Kurama breathed deeply, crafting his words._

"_It's not acceptable. You and me. They won't treat us as before."_

"_And how do you know?"_

_He remained silent._

"_I want Shiori to know about us."_

"_NO!" then he realized that he must've shouted, so he followed with a more subdued negation. He looked at the falling snow. "Please understand, I have a life to live now… in this world."_

"_A lie of a life," he whispered beneath his breath. If Kurama heard, he gave no indication. When they came to the torii, the kitsune bent down and kissed him. His lips were warm, but its warmth couldn't melt the cold of anger in his heart. Another crack appeared on the bridge between them. _

_I love you. You have me and I have you. Aren't those enough?_

* * *

Hiei gently disengaged himself from his lover's embrace. He could feel the portal opening soon. He had to leave tonight, or Mokuro will have his hide. Should he wake him up? He glanced at the pile of books on Kurama's study table and decided against it. 

_I wonder how long we'll be apart this time._

Silently, he put on his clothes then went out into the night.

Kurama's hands searched instinctively for the warmth next to his. This, more than the alarm clock, nor the knocks of his mother brought him back to waking. _Koishi? _

What did he expect? The Portal waits for no one. As before, he felt overwhelming sadness at their parting, as if his heart will break. As if his head will explode.

"Shuu-chan, Shuu-chan? You're going to be late for school!"

"Yes Mother! I overslept! Gomen!" His body felt heavy as he forced himself to wear at least a decent shirt and boxers. Then he opened the door and kissed his mother. He had cleaned before he slept so he wasn't afraid that she might suspect.

She spied the heap of books on his study table.

"Don't study too hard, Shuu-chan. After all, your health is more important than grades…"

He smiled as he draped his hands around her shoulders. "Don't worry okasaan. I smell your delicious pancakes downstairs! Let's eat before I rush to school, ne?"

The syrup on the pancake clashed with his mood, but he had to maintain the façade and not let his Mother worry. He smiled and laughed as Shiori told him about Tanaka-san.

He envied her that she could have two families – Tanaka san and his boy, and him. So why couldn't he have two lives? Why couldn't they be happy for him as they were happy for her?

From their neighbor, he heard a song waft through their open windows. It was an English song, but the melody was beautiful, and the way the words fit the music, its sacrilege to change it.

_My heart beats faster, __simply by being with you  
__Loving you, I am complete._

_  
True love often is, too short, too fleeting  
Love is like the spring that fades. _

Tonight, I need your embraces  
In my dreams, make me forget  
And believe that you are forever

_Lord, let it not be too soon,_

_the day we say _

_Goodbye._

_**To Be Continued**_

My first fan fiction in what? A year? I am truly sorry. Rate and Review! the song is mine! Mine, I tell you! Oh, I think there'll be a Guest appearance by Hasunuma from Eerie Queerie. Aya (Remember the girl that the duo rescued in" Two Shots"?). Shindou Shuuichi from Gravitation. Tee-hee! All Star Cast! They're just here coz I'm too lazy to imagine new characters…


	2. Chapter 2

**Credits:**

The characters in this fanfic are from Yu Yu Hakusho.

Guest appearance by Hasunuma from Eerie Queerie. Aya (Remember the girl that the duo rescued in" Two Shots"?). Shindou Shuuichi from Gravitation. Tee-hee! All Star Cast! They're just here coz I'm too lazy to imagine new characters…

"Hands to Heaven" from the album "Christian Bautista (2004)"

**Chapter 2: Makai**

Even without opening her eyes, she knew he has returned. The Portal's energy wavered and shimmered like the surface of a lake. Of all Makai, he was the only one who was strong enough and willing to go to Ningenkai.

"You're late." She chided, welcoming him with a blow to the stomach. He grinned and parried, leaving him open to a blow on the neck. But he was used to her jokes and parried that as easily as the first. Her heart swelled with the closest 'motherly love' she could muster. Hiei was learning at a fast pace while Yusuke and Shura has tapered on their skills. Soon her protégé will be the one to rule Makai.

"I was delayed. I'm here now. So, what have you been doing?"

She purred and stretched on the bed. She knew he found her sexy, and would have acted on it if only he wasn't too engrossed with the youko, but win some, lose some.

"Nothing much… the usual… there's no much use for S-class youkais like us in Enki's reign of peace," she picked up a dart and threw this to a disturbingly humanoid-looking plant.

"Your skills will rust if you don't get off your butt."

"Do you think my skills are rusty?"

"You're getting old, but I don't think you're getting – "

She sent him crashing through the wall and a couple of mountains to boot.

"_Never_ say a lady's old. My, my… even my son got to learn etiquette. "

* * *

For a moment he was disoriented. That bitch could kick butt if she put her mind to it! He brushed the dirt off his tattered shirt, hell… why bother? It's ruined beyond repair already. Good thing his pants still covered where it counted. How humiliating it was to walk in the castle with a whole in his…

"Master Hiei, how surprising to see you here!" A human-looking youkai bowed low in obeisance. His head was shaved, and he wore an itchy-looking ensemble. A monk. From Yusuke's territory.

"You're trespassing, Monk," he called the entire baldheads 'monk'. Couldn't distinguish one from the other. It was discomfiting to meet one when he was just beaten in a fight that never even began!

"Oh, been to Ningenkai so you don't know?"

"Don't know what?" He hated it when he missed out on things every time he left.

"We're closing up the Portal."

The words served as fuel to his anger.

"Closing up the portal? Why the hell would you do that!" he shouted at the monk. That idea got to be the most stupid thing Enki came up with! He grasped at Masamune only to find out that he has forgotten it!

"Master Hiei, I am but a poor vassal, please do not take out your anger on me." The Monk held up his palms and tried to calm the jaganshi. His temper was a legend in Makai and no sane youkai would dare send him over the edge. "This is for the good of Ningenkai and also for Makai. The two world's are still too close that with the exchange of energies and peoples, there's no doubt that an Imbalance would occur in the future. The Planes as they align with…"

"Cut out the Crap! Explain!"

The Monk shuddered as he realized that Hiei didn't care about technical explanations. He scratched his bald head as he answered.

"If we don't close the Portal completely, one or both the worlds will be swallowed up by the other."

Hiei, who was about to strangle the Monk, stopped.

"One will be destroyed?"

"H-hai…" the Monk breathed a sigh of relief as Hiei retreated his claw-like fingers.

* * *

_How could that little thing destroy a world as big as Makai? Even the Gods couldn't destroy Hell!_

Mokuro yawned as she watched Hiei's changing expressions – from surprise, to shame, to anger, then finally puzzlement. If she knew him as well as she believed, her little son would refuse to simply sit and do nothing.

"The question is… could you do anything?" she thought aloud. She picked up another blunt dart (it's no fun if it's sharp) and turned her attention to her humanoid plant. "Ah… things will surely be interesting in Makai, don't you think?"

The Plant shuddered, a feat so unusual since the human it so resembled was a balding fat merchant in Mokuro's youth. Her unburnt lips curled into a cruel smile.

It was afternoon when Hiei returned. Mokuro was sleeping.

"Get up, Mokuro. I know you're awake. The plant's still bleeding."

The Warlord lazily opened her eyes. One good blue eye, and one so burnt only a few threads of flesh attached it on her skull.

"You are getting better at observation, but do not try your luck."

"What the Hell is that doom's day scenario?"

"Doom's Day?"

"Don't play dumb. Out with it. Who came up with the portal trash? Was it that nitwit Enki?" Hiei glared at his mentor. She would win if they fought, but he'd make sure she won't be fit to rule Makai after!

Mokuro felt the stirrings of danger in the air. She had invested too much time and hope on the jaganshi that it would be a bother to waste it all.

"It was discovered by Yomi's Scientists. Do you know what a blackhole is?"

"A black hole? What's that?"

Mokuro furrowed her brows. How could she explain something so rudimentary as a black hole?

"Go to Yomi. He started it."

* * *

It was half a day's journey to Yomi's territory, or what was left of it. Gandara has been Makai's technical haven, but now, it was in a state of disrepair. Yomi went to the Mountains to train Shura and without his leadership, Gandara was at the mercy of lawless youkais. But now that the King was back, order has returned.

No use wasting time so he jumped over the City Gate's sentry's head and went straight to the Palace. Or more accurately, the Fortress. This was the place where he had to announce his arrival. Fighting his way in would be too much of a bother. Even Mokuro wouldn't siege the Fortress if she had no cause.

"Yomi! Open up!"

"Who goes there?" A lone guard leaned to take a look, only to be spiked in the head with Masamune.

Shura, GAndara's Prince ordered the Guard to look so everything that happened was within his sight. The reddish luster of the blade left no question to the identity of its owner.

"Papa, Uncle Hiei's outside," the crown prince addressed Yomi who was relaxing beneath a sun beam.

"Ah, so he has come. It's a little later than I thought though… Let him in."

The Fortress' enormous gate opened.

"Papa said you know the way Uncle, we're at the Gardens." Shura spoke through the intercom.

It would be difficult to renovate such a mammoth structure so the fortress hasn't changed. If that was so, then the secret passages and traps would still be there. Hiei chose the safest and surest, though not the most obvious route – the spiral stairway. He found the Father and Son in the Gardens as Shura had said.

Shura, though barely ten years old was almost as tall as Yomi, and now has three horns on his head. Aside from that, he was every inch Yomi's clone.

"A friend of Kurama is a friend of mine. What brings you to Gandara?"

Hiei knew that the King was baiting him, and he was too tired from journeying all over the two worlds to be diplomatic.

"Why the hell are you ordering the Portals closed?"

"Ah… but that's Enki's call, not mine. Remember, I am no more a King as my son. All authority rests on Enki."

"Don't fool with me Old Man. What's this stuff about the two worlds being put off balance by the Portal?"

Yomi put his fingers to his lips, "Oh, you heard of that?"

Shura giggled. Hiei glared and in an instant struck the Prince on the nose, sending him crashing to a pool and about two- three stories down. Not enough to hurt him, but enough to show him who he's dealing with. Yomi smiled – but Hiei couldn't discern if that was a laugh or a sneer.

"Mokuro trained you well. Perhaps I should send my son to her for advanced studies."

Hiei crossed his arms on his chest as they waited for Shura to get up. The pool was now empty and no doubt the servants were at a loss on what to do with the mess.

Shura flew up the hole and glared evilly at Hiei.

"You little – " he was about to say something nasty but Yomi held out his palms for forbearance.

"Shura. Stop it." Shura stopped midway and sulked back to the ground. Like his Father, he has learned to switch off his emotions, though Hiei doubted he would forget the sleight.

"I will use comparisons to explain to you my friend, the terrible situation we are in. It is no joy of mine to separate the worlds, for like you, I," he paused, "… **had** loved someone there. But our hearts do not matter in a scheme as grand as this.

"Makai and Ningenkai are not different worlds. They are one and the same. So what we call as Makai is but one aspect of the one world we share…" Yomi explained, crafting the technical theories into something that the jaganshi could understand.

"The two halves are in different planes. Imagine a mountain whose feet is underwater and whose summit is in the clouds. The ones that live underwater couldn't live in the skies, and the ones in the skies couldn't live underwater. Only a few could live on both."

_The strongest of us._

"Those who could live on both found a path to the other side – a 'Nothingness' in the Mountain's core – for that is the best I could describe it – the Portals. As more and more used the Portal the larger and larger it grew. Finally, its size threatened to destroy the Mountain."

Yomi cast his unseeing eyes unto Hiei.

"Now, do you understand? The only thing we could do is close the Portal, and hope that the damage is not that too far gone."

Hiei prayed that for once, Yomi was joking, but the King was deadly serious. Finally, he mustered enough courage to ask, "H-how long?"

"The Spells will take three months. Go say your good byes."

* * *

His steps were heavier as he made his way back to Mokuro's castle.

_Close the portals permanently? Gods… _he passed the torii and he saw a malevolence that has before, escaped his sight.

Hiei immediately knew the implications.

If he chose to live in Nigenkai, he would have to live as a human, for his strength and skills had no use in Ningenkai. He would have to look for a job, and pretend to be normal. That meant being nice, and groveling, and kissing someone's ass to get ahead.

But he would have Kurama.

Would he?

Would Kurama love him forever, as he promised? Or were his promises made in the heat of the moment?

Would Kurama, live as long as him, or would he, like a Mortal, die after ten.. twenty… or thirty years? And he, without anyone stronger than him, have to live alone hundreds of years after him? In a sea of Mortals?

He didn't want to think about it. But he had to… a month was all he had to chose.

He walked towards the torii and placed his hands on the cold stone of its foundation.

Faintly, he heard a soft melody echoing from Ningenkai. This, like smells were somehow carried over by the strange currents inside the Portal.

_As we move to embrace  
Tears run down your face  
I whisper words of love so softly  
I can't believe this pain  
It's driving me insane_

_  
Without your touch, life will be lonely._

_-- END OF PART 2 --_


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3: A Door Closing, a Window Opening**

Three months passed like a dream, and Hiei still has not come close to a decision.

In the beginning, he could barely feel the magic closing the portal, but now, it left a palpable heat in the air – a constant reminder that he was running out of time.

Scarlet and jet black youkai blood flowed as if poured by a demented artist. Masamune cut through flesh and bone in a single sweep. In another blur, another youkai discovered that his head moved oppositely his body, and the next, and the next and the next. The whole regiment was soon in a panic as their numbers decreased as swiftly as the clock's second hand.

Unfortunately for them, Hiei was in a killing mood that evening.

Another petty youkai who called himself a warlord dared challenge Enki's rule and he was sent here to teach the bastards a lesson. He found the stupid demon in the middle of the formation. _Fucking cow's too cowardly to face me in battle._ _And he wanted to rule Makai? _He slowed down and let his enemy catch a glimpse of him. The youkai's eyes widened when he realized he was dealing with Mokuro's second in command.

"Keeel hiiim! A thoussssaannd gooolld coiiinnss foor hiss head!" the youkai screamed. The esses were slurred because of his forked reptilian tongue.

"Fool. You wouldn't even touch me," Hiei taunted. He drew in his sword. In another second, the 'warlord's' head rolled on the chariot's floor.

Hiei surveyed the carnage surrounding him. The ground was soaked with blood. _He_ was soaked with blood. Death called its minions… scavenger creatures arrived from far and wide, though none dared come too close while he lingered. Their muted auras shimmered in the deepening night, and their stench assaulted his senses.

He swept his samurai in an arc, removing the remaining blood. Take care of your weapons and they will take care of you. He returned it to its sheath and sat down. He didn't want to stay, but he also didn't want to hurry up and report to the tub of lard. So, through sheer force of will, he blanked out his sense of smell.

Crickets and frogs chorused in the background.

The moon and the stars start wakening from their sleep.

Only the bodies and weapons lying scattered on the field bore witness of the battle.

He felt comfortable with the stillness, though some may say that he was mad. He could think here, without anyone bothering him. And he needed to think, desperately.

Hiei gazed at the silver ring on his pale ghostly fingers.

"_Do you love me?" Kurama softly asked as they took one of their many walks in the park. They had a fight and were not in speaking terms for a week. _

_He grunted, "Maybe."_

"_I love you…" Kurama softy said._

_His heart melted as he felt the hurt in his lover's voice. But he said nothing and looked straight on._

"_I was hoping for a better time to give you this, but…" Kurama smiled shyly. "I think that If I don't give you this today, I'll have no other chance."_

_His curiosity stirred, Hiei watched Kurama carefully reach for something in his pocket. Through some sleight of hand, the youko managed to keep the surprise a secret until he finally put it on Hiei's left forefinger._

_It was a beautiful silver ring of two roses entwined in each other. _

"_I have one, too." Kurama showed left hand. "I don't want to lose you, Hiei. I love you…"_

Hiei played with the ring, shifting it downwards and upwards his finger, though never removing it.

He had come to a conclusion.

* * *

"When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy… When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight…" Kurama, or more appropriately, Minamino Shuuichi read from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran. He paused as he thought on the phrase, then after a few seconds, looked up again to the class. "There are experiences, people and memories that cause us grief so we try to forget them instead of enduring the pain. But in so doing, we also forget that we hurt because we loved them. The remembrance of the happiness they brought us… now brings longing that borders on grief … Therefore, it is up to us to choose _how_ to remember."

But for Kurama, the meaning of the phrase is really simpler than that.

_The touch of a lover… _

How many times did he have to content himself with remembering? So many lonely and bitter nights were spent dreaming of Hiei, the way he looked at him, the way his voice sounded, the way he moved, the way he fought, the way the veins on his temple showed when he was angered, the way he kissed, the way he ate his favorite dessert (ice cream – vanilla, Haagen Dazs)…

_Ah… remembering is bittersweet._

Kurama followed the Professor's movement around the class as he let his thoughts travel.

_That which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy…_

_In truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight…_

* * *

Every school has an elite class. If you were good looking, a senior and a member of an athletic team, you were automatically in. Hasunuma was one of those lucky few. He was nearing six feet in height, with deep blue eyes and teasingly kissable lips. Plus, he was team captain of the soccer and basketball team. He could get whoever he wanted: women, gay men, bi, children; not that he had to try. Usually, they just flung themselves at him. His conquests were many but discreet. Those that were public knowledge were all leaked out by his lovers. But his philandering was accepted by everyone. It was a part of his charm.

This was his last year in high school. The competition for his attention grew in intensity as the clock ticked. But the someone he wanted was not there. Oh, he knew from the start he wouldn't be one of these love-struck juniors. He was classier than that. He was a world unto himself, and as far as he knew, no one had caught his fancy. He was two years younger than him, but it didn't matter.

He could see him in the distance, walking with the auburn-haired girl. At first, he feared that she was his girl, but when he inquired, he found out that she was only his childhood friend. It was hard to miss his flaming locks, or his dashingly beautiful face.

"Yo, Minamino-chan!" he called and waved when they were within earshot.

Shuuichi looked surprised when he realized that Hasunuma addressed him.

"Hasunuma Sempai! Good afternoon," he greeted him sweetly, his emerald eyes smiling, "Aya-chan, Hasunuma sempai, he was the one who tutored me in Biochem. Hasunuma sempai, Aya chan, my best friend."

The two shook each other's hands. Hasunuma winked at Aya as he joked, "Don't believe him my dear. He was the one who tutored me!" Then he glanced at Shuuichi. "Mind if I join you two? I have to go to the shrine and meet someone, but I don't really want to be a kill joy to them," he motioned to the throng of giggling girls waiting for him. "So, could I please, _please _say that we have a project about soccer, _please?"_

Shuuichi covered his lips with his fingers as he giggled. "So you're chickening out and using us for your excuse?"

"Well… there are many ways to look at it. I prefer to call it a white lie. So..?"

"If it's all right with Aya…"

The two boys looked at Aya who was blushing under their intense gazes. She nodded shyly and to her chagrin (and the others' envy) the two gentlemen wrapped their arms around her waist.

Aya, the poor girl felt so awkward with Hasunuma, not because he was handsome, but because his reputation preceded him. She glanced at Shuichi, and to her dismay, saw that he was enjoying the other's company. _Oh please, not a budding romance! _She wanted to stop it, but the blood was ringing in her ears and the goose bumps were tearing her flesh! If only she didn't know that Shuuichi has a tendency to swing both ways, or that Hasunuma was bi... then she would be in heaven right now… but as it was…

"Ah, I have to go back to the school!" She suddenly exclaimed.

"School? Why?" Shuuichi asked as they stopped in the middle of the park.

"I… I left my homework on the table…"

"We'll walk with you," Hasunuma offered.

"No! ah… no. I can manage, you two go ahead."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure. I'll just meet you two tomorrow, okay?"

She looked pleadingly at Shuuichi to support her. The redhead immediately picked up her point.

"Ah, so tomorrow then, Aya chan?"

"Yah."

"TC Aya chan. Nice to meet ya."

There was a half worried look on her face as she traced her steps back to school (thought they all know that she'd probably double back after thirty minutes and they were safely out of sight. Kurama followed her with his eyes until she was at least safely over the bridge, then he gave her one last wave and brought his full attention back to Hasunuma.

Hasunuma was a fine example of the male gender. Even with the senior's bland dark blue uniform, he stood out with his stunning physique. His shoulders were broad, without being overly so; and the arms that showed from his rolled up sleeves proved that he was really in shape. He has deep turquoise eyes that permanently glinted with good-natured (?) naughtiness. His lips were a natural deep red.

"So Shuuichi, this way to your house?" Hasunuma asked and pointed to the cobbled pathway south.

Shuuichi nodded. "Yes. So I guess we part here, ne?"

Hasunuma grinned and cast his eyes away. He scratched the back of his head like a school boy that was caught in a mischievous act. "Well… actually… I'm really…not going to meet anyone today." Then he looked expectantly to him. _I just want to know you better._

Kurama blushed (_oh my God!_ _I blushed! I DON'T blush! – _but this only served to deepen his rouge

The 'older boy' read his discomfort and stammered as he looked for a good out.

"Well… I think I might detour after the first blocks to Shindou's… haven't seen him for a while now."

Kurama bit his lips as he looked shyly up to Hasunuma (the boy was a few inches taller than him).

"Oh. I thought you were gonna help me study Biochem again, Sempai…"

Hasunuma stopped in the middle of his excuses and gawked at Shuuichi. Then he laughed and tentatively brushed his fingers against the sophomore's palms.

They talked about many things, though Kurama really didn't remember what. He was more conscious about the hands that held his fingers. Hasunuma's clasp was gentle. If he so wanted, he could just pull back his fingers and they won't suffer from any loss of face. But he didn't. He just let his senior hold his hands as they talked. His heart fluttered with so many butterflies. The youko in him was amused that he could feel as giddy as a normal ningen adolescent. In short, this was new to him, and true to his nature, Kurama allowed himself to savor the experience.

"This is my place," Kurama smiled as he stopped in front of the beige-colored apartment with the Sakura tree in the front yard.

"Pretty big," Hasunuma whistled to emphasize his admiration.

"Well, we are four in the family, so it's not _that_ big," Kurama corrected. He disengaged his hands and knocked at the door.

A woman quickly opened the door. Her hair was tied in a neat bun, and from the aroma that greeted them, it was plain that they were going to have delicious shrimp stew and boiled mixed vegetables.

"Tadaima okasan!"

"Okaeri Shuu-chan!" then she looked at Hasunuma. "Oh, so you have a visitor?"

"Yes, okasan. He's Hasunuma-sempai. I asked him to tutor me in Biochem. Mind if I let him in?"

"Of course not, Shuuichi! Hasunuma kun, treat our house as your home!"

Hasunuma bowed and smiled. "Arigato Minamino-san. But may I say that I thought you were his sister?"

A little sweat drop appeared on Kurama's forehead. _Flirt._

Shiori giggled. Kurama watched amused at the speed which Hasunuma won over his mother. Before they were halfway to the dinner table, Hasunuma has coaxed from her his favorite dish, color, movie, book, pet and flower.

"Now that's what I call a meal!" Hasunuma stretched as he followed Shuuichi up the flight of stairs. Shuuichi laughed softly. A little smile crept into his lips. The redhead looked yummy at this vantage point. His eyes shfted from the full flaming locks, down the equally red uniform… then at his rounded buttocks.

_Pervert. If your classmates knew what ran in your mind…_

Shuuichi pulled out a key and opened his room. A blast of cold air hit Hasunuma's face as the air conditioner was turned on all day. The room was small, but very organized. The walls were tinted pink, like a girl's. A computer table beside the night cabinet was in front of a body length mirror/ vanity. A collection of perfumes were stocked in a mirrored box. The bed could fit two people comfortably. The view of the neighborhood outside was beautiful, but it was blocked by a large sakura branch.

"Hey, Shuu-chan, why don't you have that branch cut?" he asked. Shuuichi was changing clothes and was now halfway out his uniform. He hid his surprise when he saw the newly healed wounds on Shuuichi's shoulders, but declined to comment about it.

"Nah… I like that branch," the redhead answered. He tossed the uniform into the clothes bin and settled for a plain white under shirt in spite of the cold. "Mind if you go to the bathroom? I have to change."

"Oh, okay."

"Thanks."

"No, I was the one imposing."

He went in the little bath room and closed the door. Cool! A bath tub! Out of curiosity, he opened the medicine cabinet… complete, and well stocked, and even had tourniquets, and sutures? _What the hell did he need that for?_ A small unassuming tube caught his eyes. There was no mistaking that familiar discreet logo.

_KY?_

"You can come out now," Shuuichi's muffled voice passed through the door. Hasunuma quickly shut the cabinet.

Shuuichi was now dressed in a white shirtand loose-fitting Chinese pants. If only he wasn't flat chested, he could pass as a woman. He was that beautiful.

"So… when you're done gawking, maybe you could tell me why you wanted to talk."

There was a cat-like quality in the way Shuuichi moved now. Maybe it was because they had to room to themselves, or that they both felt comfortable with each other. It was a pleasant surprise to see his demure school mate act so… so much like a tease.

Hasunuma grinned and tucked Shuuichi's forelock behind the boy's ears.

"I really wanted to talk to you about this…"

He had had three choices to say no.

The first disappeared when Hasunuma flirted with him in the park.

The second disappeared when Hasunuma won his mother over.

The third has gone the moment he let Hasunuma's lips touch his.

_Hiei._

But Hiei was so far away, and his sempai was here. His body cried out in need. He so wanted to kiss and be kissed, and take and be taken. Hasunuma was experienced and hot. His palms, when they drew him closer were strong and insistent.

"Lock the door," Hasunuma ordered as he released the kiss.

_Now. Say no. _

He locked the door.

_No, say it._

Hasunuma lay on the bed, opening his shirt's buttons one by one.

_Inari-sama…_

_(Evil laugh… in obeisance to policy regarding lemons, the lemon scene following has been deleted by the author. XD… Don't take it against me! Either that, or no Turin resurrected! Oh yah.. that's why my name has resurrected added already Y.Y)_

_**To Be Continued**_


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